Early Modern Era

Early Modern Era
Part II
Empires and Imperial
Rivalries
Chapter 7
1492 - 1763
• A number of European states quickly established
“empires” in the New World after initial
“discovery;”
• Spanish, Portuguese, French, English
• Advances were initially limited by the American
societies that were encountered;
• How did the smaller population of the European
explorers come to influence the American
societies in order to take control of the
continent?
Pre-European Contact
• Complex social and political systems had
already been in place in the Americas before
the arrival of the Europeans;
• The imposition of new rulers among the
native population was not necessarily new,
but the intentions of the Europeans differed
from the expectations of the natives;
• From this series of issues, the relationship
changed between the two cultures and
affected the economic initiatives;
Social System
• Various economic elements based on hunter-
gathers, pastoral and semi-nomadic existence
of the native populations;
• Shifts between the rulers of these groups were
not unusual, so the collection of “tribute” by
the Spanish was not opposed;
• However, the intentions of the Europeans was
to take the tribute and ship it back to Europe,
instead of the traditional method of sharing
out the surplus;
Conflict
• The control of chiefdoms depended upon
the support of the people based on the
redistribution of surplus tribute or harvest
to the group;
• When the Europeans did not do this, the
chiefdoms had lost their authority with the
people;
• This created conflict and problems within
the social hierarchy of the system;
Complex Markets
• The Native populations had a complex
trading route that connected North and
South America and the Caribbean;
• They traded in commodities (cacao, cloth,
metal implements and money) with other
communities;
• Mostly the Aztec tribes with an extensive
spread and shipping process
SPAIN
Trade and Control
Spanish Empire
• As the first of the Europeans to have contact
and trade with the Americas, Spain’s empire
became one of the most important in Europe;
• Their contact stretched from the southern tip
of South America to the Southwest of the
United States;
• The most important were New Spain (Mexico)
and Peru;
• Most populous and wealthy as they
represented the Aztec and Incan empires;
Spanish System
• The Spanish moved easily into the tribute
system in both regions, as the system was
similar to the Spanish feudal system;
• Very little change was felt in the mainstream
of the culture;
• The conquistadors determined how the
system had run before them and did the same:
allow producers to obtain goods and labour as
they had before; left control of local
governments in indigenous hands;
New Spain Imperialist
• By imitating the indigenous system of
chiefdom, the Spanish ensured the least
resistance to their presence;
• Although the governmental system remained
similar to the previous reigns, the Spanish
insisted on converting the people to
Christianity as well as installing the Spanish
justice system;
• This created much abuse and ill-treatment of
the indigenous population;
Further Exploration
• As the Spanish travelled they encountered
more native populations that were less
sedentary (they were nomadic), so they
were seen as less civilized – they were not
seen as able to form governmental systems
or complex economic systems;
• As the Spanish tried to “civilize” these
populations, the imposition of religion and
culture was paramount;
Civilization
• Forcing the nomadic tribes into communities
with churches as the center was one of the
main goals;
• These were developed by religious orders –
the Franciscans or Jesuits – who established
missions that were meant to keep the native
populations in one place and develop
agricultural pursuits;
• The families involved worked for themselves
and the mission – as crops were traded, stored
or sold to finance new missions;
Missionaries as Parents
• The missions were meant to be short term systems
that would help the native populations to establish
themselves as sedentary citizens of Spain;
• However, many attempted to “train” the
populations in sexuality (modesty and control) and
to punish offenders;
• Most of the punishments were corporal (flogging);
• They also attempted to protect the populations
from incoming Spanish, which frequently brought
them in to conflict with the government and the
settlers;
Politics and Government
• 1517 – Cortez in Mexico
• 1527 – Spanish royal court system in place
in New Spain;
• Frequently used by the indigenous people
to settle disputes and to defend their rights
and property;
• System meant that indigenous people
could take Spaniards to court, or other
villages; sue one another or Spanish
landowners;
Court Representation
• Spanish created the Defender of the Indians
as a special position within the court
system;
• Under this system, even people without
formal legal status (slaves and illegitimate
children) could appear in court as
witnesses and plaintiffs;
• Inclusiveness of the Spanish legal system
helped to keep the populations loyal;
Paz Espanola
• Legal system diffused a lot of issues;
• Some problems between landowners and
neighbouring villages, priests and local
officials;
• Most of the problems dealt with solvable
issues that involved interpretation of the royal
will in the new world;
• By establishing groups a legal entity, the
justice system involved a defence of rights
rather than a determination of problems with
the distant Crown;
Outside Empires
• Problems with the frontiers started with the
different hierarchal system that was not based on
imperial rulers;
• Resulted in numerous revolts in some areas;
• When silver was discovered in Bolivia, the Spanish
had to deal with the Pueblo;
• The Pueblo were not fond of the missionaries who
tried to weed out the culture;
• The Spanish were defeated and expelled for the
next 12 years and did not return with the same
assumptions about the culture or the religion;
Identity and Race
• The majority of the populations were
indigenous, but in Spanish regions there was a
colonial population of mestizo (Spanish and
Indian mix);
• In the Portuguese regions there were large
numbers of Africans brought over as slaves;
• All racial categories were established in castes
• This determined legal status within the state;
• Economic and social status also moved castes;
France
New France
• 1608 – Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec
for a private charter company;
• Until 1663 there were under 1000 colonists
who constantly battled the Iroquois
Confederacy;
• The French government took control of the
settlement and the Confederacy was defeated;
• Between 1680 and the 1750s the population
grew from 10,000 to 70,000 – mostly due to
high birth rates;
Commerce & Religion
• Strong religious motivation in the
settlement as groups of missionaries and
nuns set out to convert the native
populations;
• The early attempts were unsuccessful by
the Recollects Order of Nuns, the Jesuits
and the Ursuline Nuns;
Agriculture
• Most of the colonial population were farmers
known as habitants;
• They existed under the French seigneurial
system;
• The seigneurs (upper class) and the Catholic
Church received large land grants from the
Crown that they rented to the habitants;
• Whole families had to work the farms to
produce enough to feed the family
(subsistence) as well as pay the rent and tithes
(Church taxes);
Exportable Wealth
• Most profitable industry was based around the
fur trade;
• The system evolved from the Algonquin visits
with pelts to the French, to the illegal
coureurs de bois going to the territory of the
natives to trade directly, to the licensed
voyageurs working for city merchants trading
directly with the tribes;
• By the late 1600s, the French had to contend
with the competition from the English
regarding the fur trade;
England
Late Arrivals
• Although the English were late to the
imperial development of North America,
they had some early acquistions;
• 1607 – Virginia
• 1620 – Massachusetts
• 1636 – Connecticut, Rhode Island
• Between 1664- 1732 - 14 more colonies
including Nova Scotia
North vs. South
• The two regions of English colonies
developed very differently;
• South were defined by plantation
agriculture and slave labour;
• The North were settled primarily by
farmers, artisans and small merchants;
agricultural pursuits were small farms
managed by owners or tenants;
City Life
• Most of the settlements were by the coast
with the largest begin Philadelphia, New
York and Boston;
• Coastal cities were important in trade with
the Empire and the colony – timber, fish,
agricultural surpluses for manufactured
goods;
Social Structure
• Cities consisted of wealthy merchants,
professionals, artisans, government officials
and workers;
• Women could exist on their own with
opportunities to run taverns or boarding
houses;
• Most were wives and mothers;
• Social roles were clearly defined in society
and in the household;
Marriages
• Colonial marriages had serious consequences
for women;
• Ceased to be legal individuals – rather they
were under the “control” of their husbands;
• They could not enter contracts, or control any
of their or family’s property (dowry);
• In contrast, Spanish colonial women had
retained full control of their own legal status
and could act fully under the law, even though
there was still a patriarchal society;
Religious Influence
• Many of the colonies were established by religious
groups seeking freedom of worship;
• Puritans in Massachusetts, Catholics in Maryland
and Quakers in Pennsylvania;
• This did not mean there was increased tolerance
within the colonies;
• Most were protective of their freedom and
established religious prominence within the colony;
• There was never any real effort by the English to
convert the Natives to Christianity as a settling
force or trade initiative;
Ecological Imperialism
Settlement Success
• Many of the successful settlements of the
English was because of the import of
Eurasian animals and plants that they
adapted to the American environments;
• Many of the imported species still
dominate the North American landscape;
• Even if the species did not dominate a
region, they affected the environment in
some fashion;
Animal Influence
• Cattle on some Caribbean islands helped to spread
and nurture citrus plants (from other islands)
growth otherwise unknown;
• Stabilization of sheep and vegetation population in
highlands of New Spain;
• Desertification of regions by over-grazing changed
the species of plants that could grow there;
• Importation of the horse changed the ‘beast of
burden’ from the dog; traded with the Plain natives
for buffalo skins; improved hunting of buffalo by
the Plains people and a weapon (speed of raids);
Imperial Economies
Economic System
• Europeans saw the colony as an extension of
the domestic economy;
• Purpose was to help the state and increase its
wealth;
• Mercantilism – system by which the colony’s
trade is regulated to provide economic benefit
to the State;
• Forced the colony into trade with other
colonies and the State;
• Supply of raw materials for manufacturing and
a market for those manufactured goods;
Empirical Independence
• The more a State could be independent
from imports from other nations, the more
surplus wealth it would amass;
• These surpluses could be used by the State
to wage war in competition for more
colonies;
• It was also hoped that colonies would yield
precious metals for their State;
• Also called commercial capitalism;
Balanced System
• Home economies had to balance the
consumption at home with the exports;
• Creation of industries at home also
encouraged trade with other nations for
desirable goods – France’s production of
china, silks and tapestries became desirable
in Europe;
Banking
• National institutional banking increased as
did the number of private banks;
• National banks regulated the supply or
money and the debt;
• Bank of Sweden 1657 – first national bank;
• Bank of England 1694 - national bank;
• Ability to fund war debts and control the
financial system to support national policy;
Money Economy
• Commerce encouraged a money based
economy and new business;
• Development of new merchant ventures;
• Joint stock companies formed (owned shares
of capital – wealth);
• Government grants of charters for companies;
• Established monopolies of trade in regions;
• British East India Company (1600); Dutch East
India Company (1602); Hudson Bay Company
(1670) were private firms granted monopolies
to aid in developing governmental interests;
Risks
• The mercantile economy did not avoid the
recessions and inflationary periods;
• Some companies were wiped out in its
cyclical nature;
• These policies also influenced the power of
the Imperial government;
• As the policies changed, if governments
could not change with it, they declined in
world power;
Slow Declines of Crowns
• Spain’s world influence declined by 1660 with
the drop in income from precious metals from
the colonies;
• Independent actions within the colonies as
well as an inability to provide manufactured
goods led to the increase in trade by the
colonies with the Dutch, French and English;
• Spain was unable to meet the needs of its
colonial base and lost much of it bullion
wealth (gold) to pirate ships from other
Empires;
American Wars
• Between 1689 – 1763 there were five major
conflicts that involved European nations
and the American colonies;
• Any issue in the Empire produced some
issue for the colonies;
• Although these wars did little to change
the colonial map, there were changes that
occurred within the colonial landscapes;
Colonial Effects
• The English took Acadia from the French
in 1713 to create New Brunswick, and
expelled the Acadians in the 1750s (most
went to Louisiana – New Orleans);
• The Seven Years War (1756-1763) saw
France lose all of its possessions on the
North American mainland, with the largest
possession – Quebec (New France) being
taken by the English;
Imperial Empires
• From 1492 – 1700s developed major empires in the
North and South America and Caribbean by
England, France, Spain, Portugal and Netherlands;
• All existed to serve the Imperial State – regardless
of how the colony was formed or governed;
• Move of wealth from bullion and precious metals to
lasting influence of agricultural products and trade
systems within colonies;
• Most of the settlement and purchase within the
economy was dependent upon the agricultural
labour produced by imported slaves;